Clear Dollar Stamps - Sneak Peek #2

Howdy friends! Today is the last day of sneak peeks and then its a free for all. Tomorrow, all these fabulous stamps you've seen on the Design Team blogs will be available to purchase at Clear Dollar Stamps.

But, before we get to ahead of ourselves, I want to share the rest of my cards with you. This first set is one of those that you don't really want to have, but is just a fact of life. Sympathy cards are hard cards to make for friends and family, but its even harder without an appropriate sentiment to put on or inside a card. This is the reason that I'm thrilled with this new set called Words of Sympathy. The font is beautiful and the feeling behind each of the sentiments are perfect.

I chose white as my main color and accented with two shades of blue. My background was created with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the ovals were cut with my nesties.

I also decorated the inside as well as adding another sentiment. Both work independently or as a pair.

{recipe} STAMPS: Words of Sympathy CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: Outdoor Denim, Caprice Level 2 (Close to my Heart), White GP INKPADS:Outdoor Denim (Close to my Heart) ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Embossing folder, Oval Nestabilities



























My next card also used the Words of Sympathy set but in a different color scheme. I random stamped my background and framed my sentiment with my long rectangle nestabilities.

{Recipe} STAMPS:Words of Sympathy CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:Garden Green, white, baby pink (close to my heart) INKPADS:garden green, baby pink ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Papertrey ink Ribbon

My next cards were made using a new set called Sorry Charlie. Charlie just looks so sad here and definitely is sorry about something. I decided to color Charlie blue to go along with the matching sentiment. Paper is from Close to my Heart.

My next card also features the oh so cute Charlie, but he's sad for a different reason. He's sad becuase he misses you.

{Recipe for Charlie #1}
STAMPS: sorry charlie
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey ink), vanilla cream, colonial white (Close to my Heart), Caprice Level 2 (Close to my Heart)
INKPADS: Memento Tuxedo Black, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey ink)
MARKERS: Copic: B00, BG01, B02, BG10, C1
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug die Tag, Paper Piercer, Brad

{Recipe for Charlie Card #2}

STAMPS: sorry charlie
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:GP white, basic grey euphoria
INKPADS:memento tuxedo black
MARKERS: Copics: E35, E37, E31, E33
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Ribbon, Long rectangle nesties


Thanks to everyone that comes to visit. Remember, first thing tomorrow all the sneak peeks that have been up will be available for purchase.

Clear Dollar Stamps - Sneak Peek

Yay!!! I'm officially back to my blog :) I had a wonderful time at CHA and am very pleased to have been able to spend time with like minded ladies all in love with crafting. From what I was told, this year was much slower than a year ago, but since this was my first time I had nothing to compare it to. Either way, it was a blast for me and I will hopefully be able to attend next year. The Florida one is a bit too far for me.

Anyway, today I have several new sets to share with you. All stamps will be available for purchase in just 2 very short days. The first cards are from a set called Critter Barn. This is a really large nice sized barn stamp. For this particular card I created my background using the cow spots stamp from Farm Critters which was a new release from last month. I really like the classic white, black and red color scheme for this particular card. This was a very quick card to put together because all I did was stamp right onto a piece of red cardstock! I used one of my double ended tags from Spellbinders to create my little banner to house my Barn Notes sentiment.

For my next card, I stamped the barn with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it in with my Copics, cut it out, and used pop dots to raise it off the card. I also cut open the doors and snuck my cute little chicken in side the barn doors. The little chicken is also from the set called Farm Critters and the sentiment (up in the middle of the flower) is from a set called Thoughtful Notes. That wonderful printed paper is Heidi Grace. I thought it was so cute behind the barn.

The next set of two cards feature a stamp set called Old Wagon. I just love the weathered look of this set and especially the wagon; it just looks weary and you can tell its had a very long journey.

With the first card, I went with a light look and incorporated another new release stamp called Wood Grain. After I stamped the background I took my Scor-pal and created "wood paneling" in the background of my card too. I then added ink to the score marks and stamped background.


My second card was also fun to make and I went with a more "country" denim feel to it. The background paper is some old Close to my Heart paper that I had that I thought would work well. The little tag was cut from a cuttlebug die and the ribbon is from Michaels (I think). The image was cut with my circle nesties and then dotted using the Signo White Gel pen.

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The next stamp that I wanted to share is that Wood Grain stamp. This is one of the longer background stamps. Its just a fun way to create that background image and create some texture onto your cards or projects.

For this card, I went back to a favorite of mine - Pink and Brown. I paired the new release stamp with good ole Charlie Horse. I water colored him and then just splattered some brown watered down ink onto the background. I also added some really fun corduroy buttons as accents. I've had these for a while and just hadn't gotten a chance to use them. I did a lot of crumpling of paper on this one. A great way to relieve any pent up stress :) I always spritz my paper before crumpling just to make it a bit easier and then just smooth out when satisfied.

Thanks for coming to visit, sorry its been a while. Make sure to check out the other Design Team Members for awesome sneak peeks too. They are all listed on the side bar.



{Recipe for Card #1}

Cardstock:White GP, Pure Poppy (papertrey ink), Black (Close to my Heart)
Ink: Black (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Critter Barn (available Feb 1st), Farm Animals (CDstamps)
Other:Ribbon, Nestabilities, black brads

{Recipe for Card #2}

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey ink), GP White, Heidi Grace Designer Paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Critter Barn, Farm Critters, Thoughtful Notes
Other: Copics: Y17, YR07, C-3, C-5, R46, R59

{Recipe for Card #3}

Cardstock: Kraft, Spring Moss (papertrey ink), Taffy, Sorbet (Close to my Heart)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Desert Sand, Heavenly Blue, Honey, Garden Green (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Old Wagon, Wood Grain Wheel
Other: Copics

{Recipe for Card #4}

Cardstock:GP White, Denim Days (CTMH - retired)
Ink:Memento Tuxedo Black, Outdoor Denim (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Old Wagon
Other: Circle Nestabilities, Signo white Gel Pen, Ribbon, Cuttlebug tag die

{Recipe for Card #5}

Cardstock: Chocolate, More to Adore Level 2 (Close to my Heart)
Ink:Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: wood grain, charlie horse
Other: Waterbrush (aquapainter), Bazzill Brown Corduroy Brads, nesties, Watercolor Pencils (Close to my Heart) - autumn terracotta, brown bag

Be Mine and CHA

Howdy folks! I am headed to CHA in Anaheim today - yahoo. I'm really looking forward to it. For those of you who don't know what it is, it stands for Craft and Hobby Association Show. Who knows, I might even get a picture of/with Paris Hilton. Yes indeed, she is going to be at the show - imagine that (haha). I'm going in the capacity of Design Team Member of Clear Dollar Stamps (by the way, did you notice the new store logo with Charlie? Cuuute) as well as a Craft Critique Reporter. I remember reading lots of posts from the one in Chicago and seeing all the pictures of "celebrity" crafters and being so jealous. Yeah, I'm going to be one of those googly star struck crazies - not implying that those of you last time were crazies (lol)

Anyway, in the meantime, I have some sweet eye candy for you. I just adore these two Martha Stewart Punches that I got at the beginning of the year. They are both so cute. Paired with the Basic Grey Bittersweet (I got mine at Limelight Papercrafts) its a match made in heaven. One note here, I'm so disappointed that the Basic Grey paper isn't double sided anymore. That just makes me sad :(
I also used the coordinating Martha Stewart Stamps too.

Conveniently enough, one of the pinks works great with the Close to my Heart Hollyhock color. I love it when "mixing and matching" works. I also added some Kaisercraft Pink Pearls to the corners.

I'll be back with posts as soon as I can. I'll be sharing as much as I can of lots of great stuff!

{Recipe}

Cardstock: Hollyhock, White (Close to my Heart), Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: Hollyhock (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Martha Stewart Valentines
Other: Martha Stewart Border Punch, Marth Stewart Heart Punch, Kaisercraft Pearls, SU! Ticket Punch

Ladies in the Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge

Hi everyone! Today is Limelight Papercrafts Product and Sketch Challenge - Woohoo! Take a look at the sketch and I'll share the details for the challenge below.


Here are the deets straight from the "horses" mouth (hehe). Brandi knows I love her so don't worry everyone - no insults here.

"Sometimes as stampers and scrapbookers we can get stuck in a bit of a routine of doing the same thing over and over. Well, this sketch and product challenge aims to remedy that problem! That's because we're challenging you to think of new ways to use what you have! We want to see you use two or more DIFFERENT stamps on your card or scrapbook layout. Whether you create a scene with your stamps or just combine a background stamp and an image stamp, we want you to do something new and creative! Limelight Papercrafts has tons of fantastic stamps to choose from! If you don't have any Limelight products, that's ok! Just use what you do have! We can't wait to see what you create!"

So here's my version. I did use 2 different stamps, they just happened to be from the same stamp set. They are from the super cute Stampendous Clear set called Changito in Space. I just love the little Changitos.

I also got to try out some of the Core'dinations cardstock that Mandy has at the store. She has quite the selection too. I have to say this stuff is pretty darn neat.

So what I did was take a template and traced the stars on the back side (yellow) of the cardstock and then took my stylus and scored the stars. Yes, I did use my Scor-pal and it was really quite easy. I then took sandpaper and ran it over the scored stars to get the yellow inside to show.

For my inside sketch piece, I decided to make a frame (the yellow side of the Core'dinations cardstock) because I didn't want to hide all those stars I created. My hand did start to cramp a bit from all the scoring. I used my long rectangle nesties to create the frame and had to trim it up just a bit, but again an easy fix. I then added some yellow stickles to the frame (just for fun).

For my 3-D star, I did the same thing and then just trimmed outside the score lines. My Changito was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored in with my Copics and then cut out. The limey cardstock is actually Bazzill Bling from the store too.

So, do you want to know how you can play and join in on the fun? Plus there's the possibility of a great prize if you do!

• Sketch and Product Challenge with a focus on using two or more DIFFERENT stamps.
  
• Uploads to SCS should have the keyword: LLPC013.
• Participants should post a comment and a link to their card on Mandy's blog. All entries must be submitted by Sunday, January 25th , at midnight to win a Stampendous single of their choice!

Make sure to visit the other DT Ladies for more inspiration and eye candy!

Brandi
JenMarie
Becky
Ryann
Lisa
Mandy
Lee (7th Chick)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Thursday!

{Recipe}

Cardstock: Bazzill Bling, Core'dinations
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, White Daisy (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Changito in Space (Stampendous)
Other: Scor-pal, stickles, nesties, copics

Club Card

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a quick card that I had one of my clubs do for our group meeting. Its really a copy of one of the Close to my Heart designs that are offered up on the consultant website. It is really nice to have a resource when needed.

Anyway, the stamp set that I used for the little calendar is called Moments in Time and is this months Stamp of the Month and only available until the end of the month. Its so easy to to create any date and month you want. I then added a Happy Birthday sentiment from the aptly named Happy Birthday Stamp Set.

I'm going to be trying to create some extra samples to post while I'm gone at CHA - cha,cha,cha! Did I already say I'm really looking forward to it? I don't plan on taking any craft items though, but am considering taking some knitting and some books. I don't get a chance to read much so if you have any good book suggestions let me know.

Hope you have a wonderful day! Come back tomorrow for Limelight Papercrafts Sketch and Product Challenge. I'm pretty jazzed about my card - its a little different.



{Recipe} - Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted

Cardstock: White GP, Cocoa, Indian Corn Blue
Designer Paper: Free Spirit
Ink: Cocoa
Stamps: Moments in Time, Happy Birthday
Other: Brads

Edited to add: I'm back and added some more info down at the bottom (in red) if you are interested!


Hi everyone! I am just posting this card for today and letting you know that I got that really cute stamp from Limelight Papercrafts. Mandy has tons of great new stuff at the store, plus new weekly specials - which one of is the new Pink Cat Studio stamp set!! I just ordered one (hehe).

This is such a lamo post, but I wanted to get some eye candy up for you. I'm off to go rock some babies and I'll be back and then will put details in the post and share some other news with you.

Have a great morning!

-Katie

Ha, I was in such a rush I didn't even put a title on... well, we are back from "work". It is always fun to take the boys to "school". They get the chance to interact with other kids and I get a chance to earn a little bit of extra money and hold babies. Not too shabby huh? Plus its only 2 times a month too.

So, I just wanted to add that the 2 little Pink Paislee stamps I bought I have thoroughly enjoyed thus far. I love this little heart.

{Recipe}: Cardstock: CTMH Black, GP White, Papertrey ink Pure Poppy, Ink: Versamark, Versafine Black Onyx, Papertrey ink Pure Poppy, Stamps: Pink Paislee, Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Kaisercraft black rhinestones

Here is the other card that I made using this heart stamp, so this time I wanted to do a bright and bold version. I love black and red together - who doesn't?? Since I used the red as my background I decided to emboss a black heart and use it as my focal point. Then I added those awesome Kaisercraft rhinestones in the corner. You can find the stamp and the rhinestones at Limelight Papercrafts.

Speaking of Limelight and Mandy, I will be ending my DT term there at the end of this month. I could serious gush about this lady - she has been a blast to design for and the team she picked has been awesome. I won't be designing, but I as sure as heck will be participating in all those awesome contests and challenges - talk about yummy prizes... plus, the store only gets better and better. I'm always psyched to click the "Newest Product" tab!!

Thanks Mandy and Drew for 2 great terms and congrats to the lovely new Chicks joining the team. Lee Murphy is continuing on as a full member and Lorie Ames will be joining the group. Can't wait to see what you guys do!

But don't worry, there is still some things to see from me. This Thursday is another Sketch and Product Challenge so make sure to come back and play if you can.

***********************************************************************************************

Another piece of fun news is that I am going to be attending CHA this weekend. I've never been to one and don't really know what to expect, but I going to just have fun and ogle all the great products and the "celebrities" of the papercrafting world. I hope to be posting some pictures if I can of whatever I can.

***********************************************************************************************

Also, I posted another Stamp Spotlight over at Clearly iStamp (Lori's Clear Dollar Stamps Blog) along with some more watercoloring tips. The stamp set I used is called Ballerina and is truly one of my favorites for Ballet/ Girly stuff. Go check it out if you have time.

Ok, I think that's it - phewww. Hope you continue to have a good day!

I'm either way behind or super early...

Good morning everyone! I was so excited to get the Christmas Kitty stamp set from Pink Cat Studio, but just never got around to inking any of it up. But I finally bit the bullet and said that it was just time.

I originally thought that I would use it for a birthday card, but then it just turned itself into a Christmas card. Isn't she a cutie.

I got all my supplies from Limelight Papercrafts during the holidays and I still love this paper even though Christmas is over. Its from Little Yellow Bicycle.

That's it for today. Have a wonderful day!



{Recipe)

Cardstock: GP White, Christmas 8x8 Pad from Little Yellow Bicycle
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH Green
Stamps: Christmas Kitty (Pink Cat Studio)
Other: Copics, Nesties, Oval Punch

Clear Dollar Paper Craft Planet Color Challenge

Good morning everyone! Monique hosted this weekends color challenge and it was a good one for me - nice and easy colors. Click -->HERE<-- to read about all the details. You've got until Sunday evening so you have plenty of time to play. The colors for the challenge were CHOC. CHIP, OLD OLIVE, PINK PIROUETTE, WHITE (optional) These are SU! colors, but I used Close to my Heart Colors of: Chocolate, Baby Pink, and for the Olive, I used some designer paper from a Level 2 Paper Packet called Floral Tapestry.

I used a stamp from a Clear Dollar Stamps set called Asian Plants which was designed by the very talented Laurie Wilson. I used my Copics to color in my image and then used my just arrived Labels 2 Nesties set. I've been waiting for this and the Label Ones and couldn't wait to cut with them. I then used a paper piercer to pierce all the holes around my labels. The "thank you" tag was also cut out with a nesties die and the sentiment is from another Clear Dollar set called Card Categories.
What do you think of my "pebble/dirt" look? I used my blending pen (Copic) and just dabbed it onto the pre-colored section. I love the affect and the look of it.

Well, that's about it for me. I've got to get working on stuff... tsk, tsk, tsk. Hope you have a wonderful day and weekend.



{Recipe}

Cardstock: Chocolate, Baby Pink, White (Close to my Heart)
DP: Level 2 Floral Tapestry (Close to my Heart)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate (Close to my Heart)
Stamps: Asian Plants, Card Categories (Clear Dollar Stamps)
Other: Labels 2, Tags Trio (Nesties), Paper Piercer, Copics, Kaisercraft Pearls

It was almost love... the Limelight way

Good morning! I was in Valentine's mode although I do have to say that most of my cards that I've been making are more "love" cards rather than "Valentine's" cards, but anyway, my full intention was to make another "love" card, but it changed on me and ended up as a friend card.

I got just about all my goodies from Limelight Papercrafts. I based my card around the new Basie Grey Bittersweet paper - oh its just yummy and I wanted to use another new Pink Paislee stamp that I received from the store too. This one is a nice size single flower and I stamped it straight onto some of the Bittersweet. I then cut them out, added some Bittersweet buttons and used the sheer white polka dot ribbon. I tell you, I have used this white sheer polka dot ribbon A LOT these several months. It goes with just about EVERYTHING.

The "hello friend" is from a mini Hero Arts set from my stash.

I've been figuring out exactly what I want from the store, but I'm on a budget and it is so hard especially since Mandy has been adding way too much fun stuff to her inventory. Go check it out - you'll be flabbergasted with all the goodies.

Well, gotta run... I hope you have a great day!



{Recipe}

Cardstock: Lavender Moon (Papertrey ink)
Designer Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: CTMH Black
Stamps: Pink Paislee Stitched Flower, Hero Arts
Other: Basic Grey Buttons, Ribbon, Oval Punch

Boy Meets Girl - Love Birds

There's love in the air today ... aaahhh
I have to say a huge thank you to a very generous blogger friend - Beverly of Precious Scraps. I met Beverly over at the Papertrey ink message board and have followed her journey and her dream of owning her own scrapbook store. I'm so excited for her to fulfill that dream which will be soon. Last I heard, Precious Scraps will be opening at the end of January or the beginning of February. A bit ago, Beverly had some blog candy up and I left a comment and Beverly decided to treat everyone who left a comment to some wonderful Cosmo Cricket paper. How awesome is she!!! Although Beverly doesn't have her store up, she has a lot of stuff on hand and orders frequently. If you need anything just e-mail her and she'll do the very best to get what you need.

So, isn't this card the cutest? These days, I look at all paper and think in terms of cards and not scrapbook pages. This particular page would work perfectly for a very cute Valentine layout, but I saw bits and pieces that would work awesome for a cute Valentine card. And I have to admit, I'm not shy about cutting that paper up for what I need. The BOY MEETS GIRL phrase was right smack in the middle of the paper and the I {heart} U is also part of the paper.

Then I grabbed a piece of coordinating paper and used my Martha Stewart doilie punch to create my lace. All of that is nestled perfectly onto a base of Papertrey ink's Chocolate cardstock.

And of course, I have to mention that cute bird couple. I picked that up at Michaels - its a Studio G Dollar Stamp. I think I've decided to stay away form the clear sets and stick with the rubber. I cannot get a decent image form the clear ones. Some are better than others though.

And finally, I used my oval nesties to cut out my birdies and cut a scalloped mat out of Papertrey ink's Vellum and then pierced the scallops.

Overall, I adore this card. Thanks for coming to visit and I hope you have a wonderful Thursday!



{Recipe}

Cardstock: Vellum, Chocolate (PTI), GP White
DP: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Chocolate (PTI)
Stamps: Studio G
Other: Oval Nesties, PTI Chocolate Ribbon, SU Punch, Paper Piercer

Thank you Cards

Hi everyone! I wasn't quite sure if I was going to love or hate this card when I was done - after making 30 + of them, but in the end, I decided that I did truly like this card. My goal was to make something simple, classic, and flat. I need to put this card into an envelope that will also house some paperwork.

The stamp set I chose is one that I have from Close to my Heart that is really one of my all time favorites. I love this simple flower, but get this. I searched and searched for the right thank and didn't find the one I really wanted. Can you believe that I couldn't find that "just right" thank you? I couldn't believe it either and I settled for this thank you from a Papertrey ink set. In the end, I do think it all worked out well, but I just wanted a little more than just thank you on my card and it had to be all on one line. That was my requirement.

I am also pleased with my color combo. I decided to stick with a basic white for the background because I really wanted a clean, fresh look. The next color I decided on was the Grey Wool and then I opted for the Amethyst - both from Close to my Heart.

Another odd little tidbit is that I should have really gone out and purchased a box of thank you cards, but I just couldn't. How could I justify that when I have all these gorgeous stamps waiting to be used.

Anyway, thanks for hanging around with me for a bit and I hope you all have a fabulous day.

I do have a couple of tidbits to share with you though in case you didn't know or had forgotten:

• Lori (Clear Dollar Stamps) has blog candy up on her blog Clearly iStamp
• Mandy has absolutely tons of new items listed at Limelight Papercrafts - you've got to go see the yummy stuff from October Afternoon, Shimmerz, Core'dinations Paper, Stamps...
• Sneak Peeks and New Releases from Papertrey ink and Pink Cat Studio

{Recipe}

Cardstock: Grey Wool, Amethyst (CTMH)
Ink: Grey Wool, Amethyst, Garden Green (CTMH)
Stamps: Simple Blossoms (CTMH), Women of Life (Papertrey ink)
Other: Piercing Tool

Crop and some cards

Good morning! I'm trying get back into the swing of things after the weekend. Here is a quick picture of the venue where we had the crop. We had about the same turnout as last year and it was a success, but I'm sure glad that its done and over with.

I want to thank both Clear Dollar Stamps and Cut at Home (my online friends) for helping me out by providing some door prizes/raffles/and goody bag stuff. Both are excellent people and online stores! Make sure to go visit.


Its funny because I can't even imagine the $ amount in that entire room of 40 people with all their scrapping goodies. We had 3 cricut machines plus cartridges in there just to start off with :)

And now for some cards to share. Here are 3 cards that I made using my watercolor crayons. If you want all the details, the first 2 can be found over at Clearly iStamp where I posted a tutorial on one of the ways I use my pencils.


And this one, I sent off as a little thank you card. But guess what, its not a folded card. I should really make more like this. It saves on paper and weight, but most of the time I just forget.

Thanks for visiting and I'm hoping to get around to visiting all my blogger friends and actually commenting and saying hi. I've been negligent! I hope you have a wonderful day!

General Recipe: All stamps are Clear Dollar, Cardstock and paper is Papertrey ink and Close to my Heart, Nesties, Paper Piercer, Embossing Folder, Watercolor Pencils, Blending pen, Aqua Painter.

My Version of Pink and Chocolate

Good morning friends! I am at my 12 hour crop today for my twins group. My friends and I got most things set up and I am hoping to get some pictures to share with you :)

Anyway, when I got back last night from setting up I just HAD TO get a little card made to share. I just got my monthly order from Mandy at Limelight Papercrafts and it all works together perfectly. I won't get into a lot of detail, but this was such a cute card to put together and it was so darn easy - and its my slightly off version of pink and brown.

I used Papertrey ink's Kraft cardstock as my base and my new Basic Grey Bittersweet for the designer paper. I also got a chance to use my new Martha Stewart heart border punch too - too cute, I might add. Then I stamped the Pink Paislee Dotted Heart stamp on some extra brown Basic Grey paper, cut it out and used a pop dot to attach it to my card. Then I just added a matching Basic Grey Bittersweet Button and added a bit of waxy flax to the button holes and voila! The sentiment sweetheart is from a Close to my Heart set that I have.

I don't have time to add all the links to the post, but I got all the good stuff at Limelight. Click on the juicy lime ----> on the sidebar to go visit. Mandy is getting lots of great new arrivals at the store!

Thanks for visiting and I will try and get some fun pictures up later.

Ladies in the Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge

Good morning! Yup, today is Thursday and that means it is also time for another Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge. Here's all the info in Brandi's very own words:

One trend has become VERY noticeable in the paper-crafting industry in the past year: textured products! We have textured cardstock, embossing, fuzzy ribbons, fun flock, and lots of other products that make paper crafting fun to the touch! So this week we ask you: Why don't you reach out and touch....some textured products? (Diana Ross, anyone??) Limelight Papercrafts carries some gorgeous ribbons that are fuzzy, silky, and smooth. Or if that doesn't appeal to you, how about Fun Flock in 9 fun colors!? What about the new Core'dinations textured cardstock? If it's got texture, use it! If you don't have anything from Limelight, that's ok! Use what you do have!

Here is the info you need to participate!

• Sketch and Product Challenge with a focus on textured products.
  
• Uploads to SCS should have the keyword: LLPC012.
• Participants should post a comment and a link to their card on Mandy's blog. All entries must be submitted by Sunday, January 11th , at midnight to win a box 12x12 Chocolate Box paper.

Here is my take on the sketch. I've been loving the whole Valentine thing and thought I would go ahead and make a card for my hubby. The next thing that popped into my head was this tree from Unity and when I thought of tree I thought of "growing".

I tried to keep it somewhat masculine by keeping it streamlined looking, but you just can't give up pink -but there's plenty of brown and kraft throw in in there.

For my texture, I decided to use my all time FAVORITE embossing folder - Swiss Dots. I did sand my Close to my Heart once I embossed to expose the white core to it. My image was so simple to stamp (in chocolate) and my sentiment was created on my computer and then die cut with one of my nestability label dies. A bit of stitching on the card and overall, a great sketch to put together.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Mandy is expecting some really awesome stuff at the store. I can't wait!!! But while you are waiting make sure to stop on over and check out this weeks specials.

And finally, make sure to go visit the other ladies for lots of creative inspiration. I hope you have the time to come play!

Brandi
JenMarie
Becky
Ryann
Lisa
Mandy
Lee (7th Chick)

Huge Spellbinder's Blog Candy!!!

Hey everyone - I just remembered that Spellbinders - you know those must nestabilities is having a huge Blog Candy New Release Giveaways every day on the DT's blogs. Last time around I was lucky enough to win a set of the Pinking Rounds and you know I'm a huge fan of the nesties.

You can't win if you don't enter!!! Click -->HERE<-- to get the details.

Limelight Papercraft - "Its for the Kids" Challenge

Good morning everyone! Today's project was inspired by a Limelight Papercrafts challenge ala Mandy. She challenged us to create something with your kids or for your kids. Because of the timing of the challenge I immediately thought of thank you cards.

So how many of you have thank you notes galore to make/write/send out? For me, the most important thank you notes that I want to make sure I send are the ones from the kids. I believe that's important that the boys realize that its a must to show ones appreciation for things given to them.

In the past, I've had Hunter decorate his own cards and write in them, but since there are 3 boys now, I decided to make the cards myself. But, I wanted the boys to have a lot of interaction with them so I decided to stamp my images and let them color them. Hunter being 9 could do all the writing inside, although I did leave a couple for him to color in too. The twins are smart, but not that smart to write anything legible at 3 (lol).

So the first stamp I thought of was Billy from Pink Cat Studio. I chose the Billy from Dress Up Billy and it would have been absolutely perfect if the card had been just from the twins, but I needed to figure out a way to

What I ended up doing was stamping the first Billy, masking him, then stamping the second Billy. Its perfect too since their hands match up so well.

Then I had to mask both the 1st and 2nd Billy and mask off the bottom half of Billy and stamp just his upper portion. Next was to just ink up the bottom of Billy, but I had to stamp him quite a bit lower to give him the appearance of being much taller than his "brothers". I then went in and fixed and added any leg, shirt, and pants lines.

Would you believe me if I told you that I did this all flawlessly the first time and each consecutive time I did this? NOT!!! Seriously, it was a bit crazy and my intentions were to stamp my original and then photo copy enough for my others, but the ink wasn't printing out dark enough. It just looked bad and we couldn't have that could we?? Oh, and for the background I just stuck all the little pieces to the stamp set onto an acrylic block and stamped a whole bunch of them at one time until the background was full.

For my names, I word processed those on the computer and then used my word window punch to punch them out.

One note here though is that if it had worked I would have photo-copied but I want everyone to remember that it isn't ok to photo copy for resale purchases.

I wasn't able to get a picture of all 3 working on them, so the little ones will have to do. I will have to say that they loved it.

Did you notice the little sock monkey in the hand of one of the boys? Since the set doesn't have a little bear or aka "baby" I had to use the monkey, but everyone will get the point. I should really have stamped 2 of them too, but it would have gotten a bit squished so one just had to do for little Natey.

Overall, it was a bit time consuming, but since I didn't have to do any coloring it wasn't really all that bad.

Thanks for coming by and visiting and make sure that you visit all the other Limelight DT members blogs for some awesome inspiration.

Brandi
Becky
JenMarie
Lisa
Ryann
Lee
Mandy

And one more little thing.... Go visit Mandy's Blog - she's having another DT call and you could be in the Limelight too!

Oh, I guess I have another thing... (lol)... it just doesn't end huh? I've got a great stamp set I'm featuring over at Clearly iStamp. Its a great one and if you want to see how I use my Copics then head on over too.

And I swear that's it. Have a great day!



{Recipe}

Cardstock: White GP, Twilight (CTMH)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Dress up Billy (Pink Cat Studio)
Other: computer, Word Label Punch